In Bible times life was much simpler than it is
today. Communication of ideas and information was found in a limited scope. In
todays world things are much different. From the written page to communication in
even space, the transfer of information is radically different.

Why then should you consider or emphasize the
description of PREACHING found with SCRIPTURE? Should there be STREET or PUBLIC PREACHING
today? The most obvious answer, as we will fully document, is GODs instruction
within SCRIPTURE. In this paper we will show the weakness found in contemporary approaches
vs. the strength and power found in GODs way.

The common understanding of the word
"PREACH" is assigned to a select few: Pastors, Evangelists, etc. Additionally,
the idea of "PREACHING" within the believer's understanding has been re-defined
as witnessing, which for all practical purposes has eliminated the practice as found in
Scripture. These two points work together to quench those who read and would follow the
men in the Bible, leaving no example to follow. The high tech world of books, radio, and
TV has become the main venue for getting the Word out. While looking like the most
obvious way, their substitution for GODs way has left most of the world unreached.

All of these approaches share a common ingredient: they
only communicate to those who want to hear or those who are already believers.
The vast percentage of the audience is hearing information they already possess.
Literature is useful, but only to those who take the time to read it. Witnessing is good,
and should be the mainstay in a believers life, but again it is very hard to reach
more than a few. While God uses these methods to reap some of those who are ready, the
rest of the world goes without. In addition, it should be noted, the methods of today are
very expensive, and a poor use of Gods money and the churchs time.

Public preaching is the most effective way to get
the Gospel to the most people in the shortest time at the least expense. AND PUBLIC
PREACHING IS THE NUMBER ONE METHOD OF OUTREACH USED THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE, OLD TESTAMENT
AND NEW TESTAMENT

SOME DEFINATIONS

What then is PREACHING? According to Noah Webster,
"Preach" come from a Latin word meaning to "proclaim publicly
a sermon urging acceptance or abandonment of an idea or course of action ,
specifically in an earnestly tiresome and officious manner."
"Officious" it seems is the key word in much of what is BIBLICAL preaching. The
Prophets through Christ and the New Testament church told it like it was and paid the
price for their boldness and "officious" manner; as it is defined: "volunteering
ones services where they are not asked for or wanted; meddlesome" and
"high-handed." We possess the truth and as such it requires such an
approach.

As we have outlined, PREACHING today is narrowly
defined and misunderstood to the exclusion of the above definition, and typically refers
to invited people, invited speakers, and scheduled services. BIBLICAL PREACHING, however,
conforms to the above definition, and is often to hostile crowds outside
"religious" services, to those who would seek to even kill the messenger. With
these things in mind, let us now explore the subject within SCRIPTURE.

THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Old Testament is rich with accounts of PUBLIC
PREACHING.

"Wisdom CRIETH WITHOUT; she uttereth her voice
IN THE STREETS: SHE CRIETH IN THE CHIEF PLACE OF CONCOURSE, in the openings of the gates:
in the city she uttereth her words " (Proverbs 1:20-21)

"Doth not wisdom CRY? And understanding PUT
FORTH HER VOICE? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the
paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the
doors." (Proverbs 8:1-3)

Old testament prophets often PREACHED at the GATES
of the city. The gates were the busiest place in town. The cities in Bible times were
aurrounded by walls for protection, and all traffic in and out of the city went through
the gate. It was the place to be to get a message to all visitors (Genesis 19:1) as well
as the citizens (going in and out to work in the fields), and the king and all
dignitaries. All kinds of activity took place at the gates:

These then are some of the things that took place at
the gates. A man PREACHING at the gate would not only reach large crowds, but also have an
IMPACT on and a direct outreach to such varied arenas as: the business community, court
decisions, idolatrous meetings, soldiers, government, etc., etc.

"They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and
they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
(Amos 5:10)

Amos was a STREET PREACHER!

They "lay a snare for him that reproveth in the
gate " (Isaiah 29:21)

Isaiah was a STREET PREACHER!

"Thus said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in
the GATE of the children of the people, whereby the kings ofJudah come in, and
by the which they go out, and in all the GATES of Jerusalem; and say unto them, Hear
ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the Lord " (Jeremiah
17:19-20)

"The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,
saying, Stand in the GATE of the Lords house, and proclaim there this word, and say,
Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates toworship
the Lord. (Jeremiah 7:1-2)

Jeremiah was a STREET PREACHER!

An interesting point about these men is that most of
them spent most of their time not reaching those in other countries, or the most reprobate
sinners, but Gods "chosen people," who had the Bible, as they entered the
house of God to worship the LORD!

"Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of
the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O
king of Judah and thy people that enter in by these GATES." (Jeremiah
22:1-2)

"Then read Baruch in the book of the words of
Jeremiah in the house of the Lord at the entry of the new GATE of the Lords
house, in the ears of all the people." (Jeremiah 36:10)

The PROPHETS of GOD in the Old Testament did not use
"low-key," "subtle" (see Genesis 3:1) approaches, such as literature
tables, passing out tracts, invitations to religious meetings, travelling Gospel singing
teams, etc., etc. These things have some limited value, but again, what is the MAIN
method of outreach in the BIBLE? What is the most effective way to reach the most people
at the least expense (and ACCURATELY REFLECT THE REAL CHARACTER OF GOD)? WHAT IS
THE ONE APPROACH THAT GETS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF TEACHING, PROMOTION, AND ENCOURAGEMENT?

STREET PREACHING!!!

"Then the Lord said unto me, Proclaim all these
words in the cities of Judah, and in the STREETS ofJerusalem, saying, Hear
ye the words of this covenant, and do them." (Jeremiah 11:6)

"The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Go
and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord " (Jeremiah
2:1-2)

"CRY ALOUD; SPARE NOT; LIFT UP THY VOICE LIKE A
TRUMPET, AND SHOW MY PEOPLE THEIR TRANSGRESSIONS AND THE HOUSE OF JACOB THEIR SINS."
(Isaish 58:1)

In JUDGES 9:7 when Jotham had a message to get to a
crowd of people in Shechem (who wanted to kill him), how did he do it? Not with
literature, or invitations to religious services, or any other "subtle" methods.

"Jotham went and stood in the top of Mount
Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and CRIED, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men
of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you." (Judges 9:7)

Jotham found a safe place from which they could all
hear him, and LIFTED UP HIS VOICE. Jotham was an open air preacher (ca. 1300 B.C.)

The best example in the OLD TESTAMENT of a
foreign missionary is JONAH. GOD sent him to warn Nineveh. Did he rent a hall and
invite people to come to a scheduled metting, enticing them with "special music"
and Gospel entertainment? No. Jonah was charged to preach to Nineveh (as we are to the
world!), not only to those who would attend his meeting, but to the whole city.

The BIBLE says Nineveh was "an exceeding great
city of three days journey" (Jonah 3:3); i.e., it took 3 days just to walk around it.
Diodorus confirms that Nineveh was 60 miles in circumference (Herodotus records that a
days journey was 20 miles). Jonah 3:4 says "Jonah began to enter into the city
a days journey, and he CRIED, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be
overthrown." Jonah went "a days journey" into Nineveh, a city of 3
days journey, and CRIED. He was PREACHING as he was walking, i.e. OUTDOORS. Jonah
was a STREET PREACHER, walking the streets as he preached hismessage of
judgment and truth..

Before moving to the New Testament perhaps it would
be good to say that a lot of what you may have seen in your life passing for street or
public preaching leaves a lot to be desired. This is lamentable, but in some ways
understandable, and even has it's excuse in brothers and even sisters who are at least
trying. Much is needed in understanding this subject as such this paper will serve as
a beginning. We present this and other articles on the subject with an eye to the
practical aspects of the subject, hopefully fleshingit out in such a way that it's
place is re-established in practical terms and application.

WHAT ABOUT THE NEW TESTAMENT?

With the subject firmly established within the
largely Hebrew mission in the Old Testament, and it's mostly limited focus in the Middle
East, we now turn our attention to the New Testament. Beginning with John and moving to
our commission to the whole world we are instructed in Mark 16:15,

Go ye into all the world, and." preach the
Gospel TO EVERY CREATURE."

Our job is to PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY
CREATURE IN THE WORLD. Simple logic will show the best way to accomplish this is to find
where the most "creatures" are in one place at one time and proclaim the message
loud enough for them all to hear.

"Whom we preach, WARNING EVERY MAN and teaching
every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in CHRIST
JESUS." (Colossians 1:28)

The first PREACHER in the NEW TESTAMENT was JOHN THE
BAPTIST. Once again, his preaching was lacking comfortable buildings, music,
entertainment, etc. John was an OPEN AIR PREACHER:

"In those days came John the Baptist preaching
in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, REPENT YE, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand." (Matthew 3:1-2; see also Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3) Matthew says Jerusalem, and all
Judea, and all the region round about Jordan came out to hear John preaching (Matthew
3:5-6). John was baptizing in the river Jordan. Jews who travelled back and forth to
Galilee refused to take the direct route through Samaria (John 4:9), but rather went to
the Jordan River and followed it up to and from Galilee, so John picked out a place to
preach repentance and baptize at a place of heavy traffic, with large crowds.

There is not much "one-on-one witnessing"
talked about in the BIBLE; the emphasis is on PREACHING TO CROWDS. We are not saying
to stop witnessing one-on-one. We do it; we encourage it; there is plenty of training
and promotion of witnessing, in Churches, Bible colleges, seminaries, workshops, books in
the Christian bookstores, and all put heavy emphasis on this approach. Again, our interest
as we see GODs interest is given to this MAIN method of outreach in the SCRIPTURES: open
air preaching.

The personal witnessing experiences of JESUS CHRIST
get a lot of attention, as well they should, but in the 4 Gospels, covering 2-3 years of
CHRISTs ministry, we find only about THREE cases of personal witnessing: Nicodemus,
the woman at the well, and Zaccheus. The Gospels spend much more time pointing out
CHRISTS dealings with "MULTITUDES:" Matthew 4:25; 5:1; 8:1; 18; 12:15;
13:2,34; 14:14; 15:10,30-35,39; 17:14; 19:2; 21:8,11

Also notable is that Jesus one-on-one
situations usually came out of these "multitude" situations. Jesus was with a
large crowd when He looked up and saw Zaccheus, and invited him to come down (Luke
19:1-5). And He was in Jerusalem, crowded with Jews from all over the world for the
Passover, where He drove the moneychangers out of the temple and preached, "Make not
my Fathers house an house of merchandise," and after causing that little stir,
Nicodemus came to Him by night (John 2:13-3:1). En route back to His home in Galilee after
that incident He stopped and exposed the secret sins of the woman at the well (John 4).

JESUS most famous sermons were delivered
OUTDOORS. For example, the sermon ON THE MOUNT (Matthew 5,6,7). In Luke 6:17 he preached
to a "great multitude" in "the plain" (outdoors). The "Olivet
discourse" (Matthew 24) was delivered on the Mount of Olives (outdoors).

In Matthew 13 His well known parables were preached
to "great multitudes" by "the sea side" (JESUS was a "beach
preacher"). He sat in a boat and taught the multitude on the shore.

The four Gospels are often described as John and the
" three synoptic Gospels," meaning Matthew, Mark, and Luke are similar to each
other, yet not much information in John is found in the "synoptics." The reason
is simple: Matthew, Mark, and Luke dovote most of their attention to Jesus ministry
in Galilee, where He lived most of the time. But several times a year, all the Jews in the
world would go to Jerusalem for the Feasts (see Exodus 23:14,17). Christ would go to
Jerusalem and PREACH to these large crowds gathered there. Everything in JOHN is concerned
with these trips of Jesus to Jerusalem during these feasts. The PASSOVER is mentioned in
John 2:13; 6:4; and 12:1. The feast of TABERNACLES is mentioned in John 7:2. Another feast
is mentioned in John 5:1. HANUKKAH is mentioned in John 10:22. JESUS CHRIST came to
Jerusalem to cleanse the Temple (at least twice, John 2; Matthew 21, Mark 11and
Luke19), and PREACH TO THE MULTITUDES.

"In the last day, that great day of the feast,
Jesus stood and CRIED, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."
(John 7:37).

JESUS commanded His apostles, "What I tell you
in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon
the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)

His apostles carried this out in the book of Acts.
On the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), we find one of the greatest examples of STREET PREACHING
of all time. The charismatics read Acts 2, see tongues, and say: We need to speak in
tongues like they did in Acts 2. Some fundamentalists read Acts 2 and see 3000 added to
the church in one day, and they say: We need to have large church growth like they did in
Acts 2. What is missing is the recognition of the delivery and method of STREET
PREACHING found in Acts 2,. TONGUES drew a crowd, Peter preached REPENTANCE (Acts
2:38), and the church grew.

It is notable that preaching repentance involves the
whole counsel of GOD. In addition to the Gospel, CHRIST preached "THE Kingdom of
GOD." This involves the whole of GODs character and all instruction on
all subjects found in SCRIPTURE.

"Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his
spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore
DISPUTED he in the market daily (Acts 17:17) Yes, the apostles evangelism
often involved "DISPUTING" and judgment, not just preaching GODs love (see
Acts 6:9; 9:22,29; 11:2; 15:2,7; 17:2; 18:19,28; 19:8,9; 28:23; see also Neh. 13:11;
17,25; Proverbs 28:4; Ephesians 5:11; Ithessalonians 2:2; Jude 3,9; see also examples in
Matthew 22; John 7,8).

Why the market? Crowds! The apostles wanted to get
the Gospel to the most people at one time, so they went to the markets where crowds
gathered, and disputed, preaching the kingdom and wisdom of GOD in the open air.

In summation then we hope you have eyes to see
the obvious:

MODERN methods are:

Expensive!

Limited to reaching a few of the many who
we are commanded to reach

Inefficient

Time and labor intensive

Bureaucratic

Deceiving, in that they have a great show
of power, when in fact they are weak.

BIBLICAL methods are:

Inexpensive

Unbureaucratic

Strong and in line with the power and
content of the message (Heaven and Hell!)

Able to provide place for the defence and
explanation of all BIBLICAL matters (see Paul at Mars hill; Acts 17)

Able to provide for rebuke, exhortation and
warning to all people and situations as required, Ezek. 3:15-21 (Watchmen!)

Time and labor efficient

Wise with the wisdom of GOD

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we can focus on how things
"could" be. Public open air preaching of the Gospel and the Kingdom of GOD is
imperative for the fulfillment of the GREAT COMMISSION. This is an attainable goal within
each of your groups, fellowships, and Churches. It is not unreasonable to think that of
every 50 or so believers ONE could do this work. The help of GOD is available, and when
you add them up a city of say the size of Los Angeles would net at least 500 to 600 men to
shoulder the plow in this untouched field. The impact of such a group would be immediate
and powerful: from the simple Gospel to the public rebuke of evil, GODs mind and
being would be shown to all.

"He which soweth sparingly shall reap also
sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." (2
Corinthians 9:6)